Winter Fun in Alaska

Why not kick off "Friday Fun" with a quick celebration of one of the most significant events in the entire history of the National Park Service. This is the 25th anniversary of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA). This single act in 1980 doubled the size in acreage of the entire National Park Service by adding over 54 million acres and 10 new parks to Alaska!! The national parks in Alaska are different from parks everywhere else in the nation, in both scope and scale. They contain the largest units in the National Park service system, and most measure their acreage in the millions. Alaska's parks protect natural landscapes on an ecosystem scale. They also preserve an archeological record of more that 10,000 years of human occupation. Yahoo! Look at this little map of Alaska. All those blobs of green are park lands. Amazing, isn't it?

One of those green blobs is Denali National Park. Those winter nights can be very long in Alaska, they need a reason to celebrate. If you happen to find yourself anywhere near the park on the weekend of February 24-25, stop in for the sixth annual Winterfest Celebration. Look at all the fun stuff they've got going on: dog mushing, snow sculpting, winter bicycling, story telling, snow bowling, arts and crafts for kids, cross-country skiing, a snow shoe walk, science-based educational activities, home-made chili and beer contests, a winter crafts bazaar and Sunday breakfast. Sounds like a blast to me. Anyone have an extra plane ticket to Alaska?